Leadership Development and Coaching at Chrysalis MAT

Developing People. Strengthening Schools. Improving Futures

At Chrysalis Multi Academy Trust, professional learning and leadership development are central to our mission to improve life chances for every pupil. Our approach is underpinned by clear, coherent and high-quality professional development pathways that are carefully designed to meet the needs of our staff, our schools and the communities we serve.

Professional development at Chrysalis MAT is intentionally bespoke. Pathways are shaped through a robust audit of need, drawing on school improvement priorities, role-specific expectations, career stage, individual aspirations and wellbeing considerations. This ensures that professional learning is relevant, targeted and meaningful, enabling staff to grow with confidence and purpose at every stage of their career.

 OUR BESPOKE ACCREDITED COACHING PROGRAMME – NATIONALLY RECOGNISED!

Chrysalis Coaching

A defining strength of our professional development offer is our bespoke coaching programme, implemented consistently across Chrysalis Multi Academy Trust to drive sustained improvement in teaching quality, leadership effectiveness and staff confidence. Coaching across the Trust is overseen centrally to ensure coherence, quality and impact, providing a consistent and equitable professional learning experience for staff across all schools.

This work is led by Leigh Beauchamp, who oversees coaching provision trust-wide and brings over 29 years’ experience in education, alongside extensive expertise in leadership development, professional learning and executive coaching. Leigh is an ILM Level 7 certified Executive Coach and, alongside Chrysalis Multi Academy Trust, is a member of the Association for Coaching.

Under this strategic leadership, coaching is embedded as a high-leverage professional learning approach that supports reflective practice, sharpens professional judgement and translates directly into improved classroom and leadership outcomes. There is a strong track record of coaching supporting leadership development, improving outcomes and enabling schools to navigate change effectively.

The quality and impact of this work have been externally recognised. Professional development across the Trust has been identified by Challenge Partners as an area of excellence, and the Chrysalis Coaching Programme has been formally accredited by the Association for Coaching, providing independent validation of its rigour, ethical foundations and impact. Alignment with nationally recognised coaching standards ensures consistency and scalability across schools, while retaining a bespoke, context-driven approach that meets the needs of staff and school communities. As a Provider Member of the Association for Coaching, we are proud to contribute to, and draw from, national best practice in professional coaching.

OUR COACHING APPROACH

Our coaching offer is values-led, evidence-informed and rooted in the belief that great schools are built through great people. Coaching at Chrysalis MAT is:

• Focused on professional growth rather than performance management
• Aligned to Trust priorities and school improvement plans
• Informed by individual and organisational need
• Inclusive, relational and tailored to individual roles and contexts
• Designed to build leadership confidence, clarity, resilience and impact
• Fully supervised and quality assured

Coaching is embedded within wider professional development pathways, ensuring that support is coherent, purposeful and responsive to the lived realities of staff.

We place a strong emphasis on growing our own talent, ensuring that staff at all career stages have access to high-quality coaching that supports progression, wellbeing and long-term retention.

Coaching is a central pillar of our professional development pathways and plays a key role in translating professional learning into sustained impact. Our Trust-wide coaching offer is designed to build leadership capacity at every level, strengthen professional practice, and support staff to navigate challenge, complexity and change, so that all pupils benefit from the highest standards of teaching, care and opportunity.

Our Trust Coaching Team

Currently undergoing Level 5 Coaching training:

Olevi The Power of Coaching Accreditation

A growing number of staff across Chrysalis MAT have now been trained through our Association of Coaching Accredited Coaching Programme and are actively contributing to coaching capacity across the Trust.

By developing internal coaching expertise, we ensure that coaching is sustainable, contextually grounded and deeply aligned to our Trust values.

Our Vision

Our vision is to create a coaching-rich culture across Chrysalis MAT — one where reflective practice, professional dialogue and leadership development are embedded at every level. Through high-quality coaching, we aim to empower staff, strengthen leadership, reduce educational inequality and improve life chances for every pupil we serve.

CHALLENGE PARTNER LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

As the host school within our Multi-Academy Trust, we are proud to lead the way in delivering Challenge Partners Professional Development Programmes. Renowned for their impact and quality, these courses are designed to empower educators at every stage of their career, fostering innovation, collaboration, and outstanding practice across the sector and have been highly celebrated and recommended by our schools.

With a relentless focus on continuous improvement, our role extends beyond sharing best practice—we actively shape it. By hosting these highly regarded programmes, colleagues gain the tools, strategies, and confidence to deliver exceptional outcomes for all learners.

Whether refining leadership skills, deepening classroom expertise, or connecting with a national network of forward-thinking professionals, these courses provide the ideal platform for growth and impact. A selection of what is offered is outlined below:

• Outstanding Teacher Programme
• Outstanding Teaching Assistant Programme
• Creative Teacher Programme
• Power of Coaching Programme
• OSM – a bespoke programme developed with OLEVI
• Growing the Top Programme for stand-out schools
• Mental Health First Aid Training
• Level 3 Safeguarding Training
• SEND Training
• Pupil Premium Training
• Quality Assessment Training
• Positive Handling in Education
• Curriculum Development Programme and/or coaching approach to Middle Leadership.